Rangers in the Box
by Elenor GreanLeEf
Summary: Heather just received one of the best gifts she could ever imagine, but she would never believed what would come from it. Miller and his men, are thrown into the strangest situation they have ever been. Warning: Involves our time and maybe a crossover.
1. The Birthday

_A/N: Okay I always thought it would be cool to have a story about the guys from Saving Private Ryan being brought to our time, and I liked the idea of them being really tiny. So I've taken the idea from The Indian in the Cupboard and did it Saving Private Ryan style. Yes I know it's a little corny but it's been an idea that's been bouncing around in my head for a while. I hope you will all like it. I'm not exactly sure if this should go under crossovers or not because it's not going to have anything to do with Indian in the Cupboard other than the fact that I'm borrowing the idea, so I'm not putting it in crossovers yet._

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Saving Private Ryan or Indian in the Cupboard.

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The happy birthday song rang out through the kitchen. It was a small gathering, of only six people. There weren't many presents either, but that was okay. Nothing like that could make the birthday girl unhappy. In addition to the presents, there was a cake with green leafs on it that said "Happy 21st Birthday Heather."

Heather was beaming. She hadn't had a birthday like this for a long time and everything seemed so perfect. At first she hadn't thought she would be able to make it home for her birthday and even if she did she didn't think any of her friends would be there. However, she had been surprised. Not only had she made it home but her two best friends Tom and Sarah were also there. It was more than she could have ever asked for.

"Okay, birthday girl I believe it's time for you to open your presents," her grandmother, a small elderly woman with graying hair, told her.

"What we aren't going to cut the cake first?" her father, who was about as tall as Heather, and had balding hair, teased.

Everyone laughed and Heather shook her head slightly. "Dad the cake isn't going anywhere," she told him as she pushed her black framed glasses up her nose.

"And neither is the presents," he pointed out.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I was you," Tom said grinning.

They all looked at him and his grin only got bigger. Sarah asked him while tying her long blond hair back, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Oh nothing," he said.

"Common Tom, spill," Heather said.

While laughing, he shook his head, which caused his short, light blond hair to shake as well, and folded his arms in front of him. "Open them and find out," he taunted.

"Alright I will," Heather said and grabbed the first present she saw. It was from her grandmother and she didn't hesitate to open it. When she was finished she let out a little happy sound. Her grandmother had got her a book on the Allied battles on the European tour during World War II. That meant her desire for something to do with the war was filled, so she could focus on the other presents. "Thanks grams."

"You're welcome," her grandmother said.

Then Heather turned to the next present, this one was from Sarah. It was a drawing book, with the new sketchbook she had needed for a while.

"I thought you would want something to improve your skill," Sarah said almost as she was giving an explanation for what she did.

Heather smiled and hugged her friend, who was right next to her. "Thank you Sarah," she told her.

Once again Heather looked at the presents but she didn't get to choose this time. Tom shoved one in her hands and said, "Here open mine already."

She smiled again and opened the present. She smiled even more when she saw what it was. It was a bracelet with emerald leafs on it. She loved it, granted it wasn't something that it was going to move, but still. He always knew how to find stuff that she liked. The last time he had gotten her jewelry was when they graduated from high school and it was something she would wear. Once again this was something she would wear. "Thanks Tom," she said and then looked at him. "How do you always manage to get something that is something I will use or wear?"

Tom smiled and then shrugged his big shoulders. "I'm good at observing," he said.

"Yeah you must be. Granted that worries me a little sometimes," she said teasingly, while running her hand through her semi short auburn hair.

He smirked and then poked her in the ribs gently. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Heather quickly grabbed his hands and moved them away from her side, she knew he could easily get out of her grip in torment her but he didn't. "You know exactly what that means," she told him.

He laughed and then said, "Yeah, whatever, now finish opening your presents."

She let go of his hands warily and then went to grab another one, as she did he poked her quickly once again but he did it only once. She glared at him and then turned to the other present. This one was from her father. Heather smiled slightly but she wasn't sure what to make of what was in front of her. It was a box; it was about two feet in width, and length, and one foot in height. It was clearly old and skilled hands had made it. It also had a lock on the front.

"There is a key inside of it, that way you can lock it," her father told her.

Heather lifted the lid and sure enough there was a key, a skeleton key to be exact. It had a red ribbon attached to it and was clearly as old if not older than the box. She took the key out and experimentally locked the box, it worked alright and the box locked nice and tight.

Heather smiled at her father and then said, "Thanks dad, this will come in handy. Especially at college when people try to get into my stuff."

Her father beamed and then said, "I'm glad you like it and I'm glad it will be useful." Heather could tell he was relieved. She'd bet that he had been afraid that she wouldn't like it, her father always worried about being good enough for her and her brother, especially since their mother had left.

Setting the box aside she looked at the last present, this one was from her brother. She looked at him. He was tall with hair the same color as hers, and his face gave nothing away. Heather had no idea what to expect from him. Ever since he had joined the Marines her brother turned into a different person. He was kind and caring, and he was back to being the little brother she had known from their childhood. He had gotten past the selfish teenager stage and she loved him this way. She could only guess what he would have gotten her.

Slowly she opened the present. When she opened it she found herself face to face with a cardboard box, which she proceeded to open. She laughed and shook her head when she saw herself facing yet another cardboard box.

"What do you expect?" her brother said. "You and grams always do it to me; I thought I should return the favor. You're going to have to work for it but trust me it's worth it."

Everyone started laughing then because they realized what he had done. While they were laughing, Heather was proceeding to work her way through the boxes. Finally on about the fifth box they divided into eight smaller boxes.

"Fillip, I swear if there are more boxes inside of these boxes I'm going to strangle you," she told her brother.

Once again they all laughed as she opened one of the smaller boxes. Luckily there wasn't another one but whatever it was, was wrapped in tissue paper. Instead of starting on the tissue paper, Heather removed all of them from their respective boxes. Now that they were all out she tore through the tissue paper. As she did she heard Tom say that he should have thought of this, and this caused another bought of laughing to circle. Even though Heather was getting slightly frustrated, she smiled. Then finally the last piece of tissue paper fell away from the present that she held in her hands. Her jaw dropped open as she stared at the action figure of Corporal Umpham from her favorite movie, Saving Private Ryan.

"You didn't," she whispered out, and then proceeded to remove the tissue paper from the other figures. Once they were all uncovered she practically screamed out, "You did! How did you find these?"

"I'll take that means you like them," her brother told her while grinning.

"Fillip, how did you find these?" she asked him again.

"Believe it or not, I found them at a garage sale. I know they don't have the boxes with them but I thought you'd like them anyway."

"You better believe I'd like them anyway," she told her brother. "Thank you, I can't believe you got these for me.

Her brother shrugged his shoulders and then grinned. "Hey that just means I can expect a new Xbox for my birthday right?" he asked.

Once again everyone started to laugh but Heather was laughing the hardest of them all. "Hey buddy I'm a poor college student remember? Not some marine who is bringing in the money," she told him. "However, I can get you the top three games you want."

"That'll work," he said. "I'll give you this list later."

Heather shook her head and laughed once again.

"Okay now let's cut the cake!" her father said.

"Fine fine, I'll cut the cake," Heather said as she quickly put her figures into the box her father had given her and locked it to keep it from coming open while she carried her presents into her bedroom. Then she returned to the kitchen to cut the cake. She and everyone else in the home had no way to know what happened inside of that box the second she locked it.

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_A/N: Okay, the story is just getting started, so bear with me people. I hope you liked this first chapter, there will be another soon. _

_P.S. Heather will be shipped with shipped with someone, but I'm not telling who :P_


	2. We're in a Box a Large Box

_A/N: And this chapter is with the guys. I hope you like it. BTW this will be a mix of the movie and the book, so if it isn't 100% what you guys remember doesn't worry. In fact a lot of it will be taken from the book, so once again I don't own any of it.

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Eight men dressed in military garb were walking in an open field. Each was looking around themselves, making sure everything was normal. None of them talked but that soon changed. One of the men, with dark hair, walked closer to their captain.

"You know, Captain, this little expedition goes against everything the Army taught me." Reiben said as they walked through the field.

"How so?" Captain Miller, the oldest man in the group, asked.

"I mean, it doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't make sense, Reiben?"

"The math, sir, the sheer fuckin' math of it. Maybe you could explain it to me."

"Sure," Miller said casually, though the way he held his machine gun as he walked was anything but casual. "That's what I'm here for. To make you boys feel everything we do is logical."

"Gimme a break, Cap."

"So what do you want to know?"

"Well, sir, strictly just talkin' arithmetic here, what's the sense, the strategy, in risking eight lives to save one? I mean, it's not like we're goin' to save Eisenhower or Patton or something. The guy's a fuckin' private, sir."

"And we all know how worthless privates are," Miller said.

Reiben grinned. "Hey, my privates are valuable to me. But how about it, Cap? How about an answer?"

Miller glanced back, saying, "Anybody wanna answer that?"

"Reiben," Wade, the medic and smallest man in the group, said immediately, "think of the poor bastard's mother."

"Nice, Wade," Miller said, pleased, as if responding to a star pupil. "Very good."

"Hey, Wade, I got a mother, you got a mother, the Sarge has got a mother. Shit, I'll bet that even the Captain's got a mother," Reiben said, and then glanced at Miller. "Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers."

"'Theirs not to reason why,'" Upham, the next smallest man there and the only one who looked very uncomfortable with his equipment, recited. "'Theirs but to do and die.'"

"What's the fuck that suppose to mean?" Mellish, a dark Jewish man, practically hissed at Upham. "That we're all supposed to die? Is that it?"

"Upham is talking about our duty as soldiers," Miller said. "He's saying that we've got orders. And these orders supersede everything, including your mothers."

"Even if you think a mission's _foobar_," Reiben asked.

"Especially if you think a mission's _foobar_," Miller said. "That's the definition of duty."

"What's the definition of _'foobar'_?" Upham asked confused.

Mellish glanced at Caparzo, an Italian man and as well as the biggest one in the group, and then replied, "It's German. I'm surprised that a smart translator like you don't know it."

"German? I've never heard it before."

It looked like Mellish was about to say something before the lanky Jackson spoke, his southern accent cutting through the air. "Sir, I have an opinion on this matter."

"By all means, Jackson, share it with the men," Miller said.

"Seems to me, Cap'n," Jackson said in his soothing drawl, "this mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources."

"Go on, Private."

"Well, sir, seems to me, God gave me a special gift. He made me a fine instrument of warfare."

"Reiben," Miller said, "pay attention. This is the way to gripe. Jackson, continue!"

"What I mean, sir, is if you was to put me with this her sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile from Adolf Hitler, with a clear line of sight, well back your bags boys. War's over. Amen and good night."

"That's beautiful bumpkin," Reiben retorted sarcastically, and then looked at Miller. "What's your opinion, Captain? You still haven't answered my question."

Miller's expression was good-humoredly disgusted. "Reiben, what the hell's the matter with you? I don't bitch to you, I'm a captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go one way-up. Only up, not down."

"I was just askin' your opinion, sir…"

"Here's how it works-you gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officers. Shit goes upstream, got it? I don't gripe to you, I don't gripe in front of you. How long have you been in this man's Army?"

"You're right," Reiben admitted. "I'm sorry." Then, slyly, he went on: "But, Captain, if you _weren't_ a captain, or if I were, say a _major_ then what would you say?"

Miller continued to look around him as he thought about it. "In that case, I would say this is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir, worthy of my best efforts, a privilege to sever my country in this way, sir."

Reiben rolled his eyes, shook his head, smirked, and nearly laughed.

"Moreover," Miller said, "I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan, and I'm more than willing to lay down my life, and the lives of my men…especially yours, Reiben…to help ease her suffering."

Behind him the men had thoroughly enjoyed this performance, laughing, even clapping a little, including-perhaps especially-Upham. But Reiben, the master of sarcasm, was confused, and was not sure if he should take the captain at face value, or admit to himself that Miller had beaten him at his own game.

They didn't have long to enjoy this performance, however. One second they were walking in a sunny field and the next second a strong wind surrounded them, and then they were engulfed by darkness. It didn't end there though. Before they could even get a chance to get their bearings, the ground seemed to move from underneath them, no, correction the ground was what was moving. For those who had been in Operation Overlord, it was very similar to the rocking of the landing crafts that they had been in.

"What the hell is happening?!" they could all hear Reiben shout loudly.

The other men were saying similar things and they could also hear Upham shout something about it being an earthquake. Then as soon as it had started, the movement stopped.

"Is everyone alright?!" they heard Miller called out.

"I think so," Wade said, some distance away from Miller.

"Yeah but I think I'm going to be sick," Mellish said. His stomach hadn't fared well during the landings and now with that feeling being so similar to what they had just experienced, he didn't think he'd be able to get his stomach to calm down.

Miller could hear the other men say they were alright but that was before he heard Reiben shout. "What in the fuck was that?!"

He continued to rant until Miller had enough. He had to get control over this strange situation. "Reiben, shut up!" he yelled. "Now listen we all need to get into the same location. We need to see if everyone is alright and what's going on."

"That would be nice Cap'n but there's a bit of a problem. We can't fuckin' see!" Reiben's loud mouth shouted.

Miller practically rolled his eyes; of course Reiben wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut in this situation. "Shut it, Reiben," he told the private. "Now listen all of you. Follow my voice, okay? And be careful, we don't know what is in here."

They all answered in the affirmative. However, Miller, who could sense Reiben was about to make another smart ass remark, decided to cut it off before it started. "And all of you be quiet, so you can hear me!"

No one said anything after that and Miller continued to call out to them. There were a few problems, however. All the sudden they heard a noise that sounded like two people colliding into one another, and from the sound of it, it was Upham and Caparzo.

"Oh ow!" Upham's voice said.

Then they heard, "Watch it Upham."

"Keep coming this way," Miller called to them and they complied. Every now and then Upham would walk too close to Caparzo and run into him, which would cause Caparzo to tell him to back off. Despite this problem they were soon all next to Miller.

"Okay, is everyone alright?" Miller asked again. Once again they all answered in the affirmative.

"Okay, since we are all here, where the hell are we?" Reiben asked, taking this as permission to run his mouth again.

"Reiben, if I knew that don't you think I would have told you already?" Miller snapped at him.

With no answer forthcoming, Miller knew he had all of their attentions. "Alright, let's take in our surroundings. Have any of you observed anything?" Miller asked and then quickly added, to keep Reiben quiet, "Other than its fucking dark here."

"Well it seems like we are standing on wood of some sort," Upham offered.

"No shit Upham, what gave you that idea?" Mellish asked.

"Um…well I found out when I ran into Caparzo."

"Several times," added Caparzo.

"Anything else?" Miller asked.

"There is a bit of light over there," Wade told them.

They all looked around to see what Wade was talking about and sure enough there was a bit of light. It wasn't much, which is why they hadn't noticed it at first.

Miller looked at it and then cautiously started walking, knowing that his men would get the hint. When they were all standing under it, Miller spoke again.

"It looks like a hole of some sort, if we were able to get up to that, we might be able to see out, and figure out where we are. But we need to be careful and quiet about it."

"How do you propose we do that, Cap'n?" Reiben asked, and then sarcastically added. "Stand on each other's shoulders?"

Miller looked in his direction and smirked slightly, even though the other men could not see it. "Actually, that's not a bad idea Reiben."

Now all the men glared in Reiben's direction. "You really don't know when to keep quiet do you?" Sergeant Horvath, who was about the same age as Miller, asked him.

"Now no need for bickering girls," Miller told them. "It actually isn't a half bad idea. Any volunteers?"

They could hear a loud sigh before Caparzo spoke. "I'll do it. I'm the tallest here."

Reiben smirked slightly and said, "I hope that doesn't mean you want us to lift you, cause we won't stand a chance."

Miller, who had just had enough of Reiben's mouth, snapped, "Reiben, do you understand how serious this situation is?"

"Eh, yes sir."

"Then keep your trap shut!" Miller told him and then turned his attention to the other men. "Jackson, I think you should be the one looking out. You have the best eyes, and your Springfield."

"Alright, sir," Jackson complied and slung his rifle across his arm. "Let's get this over with."

He walked over to Caparzo and they tried to figure out a way to get him on his shoulders. It was awkward because of the fact that Caparzo really was tall, but they managed it.

"Okay, Caparzo walk forward a little. Okay, good, now to your left just a hair. Right there!" Jackson said as he directed Caparzo to where he needed to be. "Damn, just barely but still not high enough." Jackson sighed and then said, "I'm goin' to have to stand up a little. Don't drop me."

Slowly, Jackson stood up on his friend's shoulders. Under his breath, he was asking God not to let him fall, or if he did fall let his comrades catch him. While he wasn't afraid of heights he had a suspicion that if he fell, from this height, he would be hurting for a while. Finally he reached the hole, which strangely reminded him of a large key hole.

"Okay, I'm up to it. Just give me a sec to have a look," he told them, while taking his gun from his shoulder, and then he looked out through the hole. "What the…"

"What is it Jackson?" Miller asked him.

Jackson frowned slightly as he looked through his scope. "I'm…I'm not sure Cap'n. It's really dark but from the looks of it, it looks like a really large bedroom."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. It's a large bedroom, everything's huge."

"Bumpkin' I think there's something wrong with your scope," Reiben told him.

"If ya don't believe me, come up here and have a look," Jackson said back to him.

"I'll just do that," Reiben said, while Jackson was being lowered.

When Jackson finally reached the ground they could hear him say, "Thank you Lord." Then he handed his rifle to Reiben. "You be careful with this," he told him, "or I'm gonna have your head."

Reiben took the rifle and slung it across his shoulder. "Don't worry 'Lil Abner, she's safe with me." He walked over to Caparzo and tried to get on his shoulders. This was a little more difficult because Reiben wasn't much for working together but they managed it, and a few moments Reiebn was looking out of the strangely shaped hole.

"Hell," he said as he continued to look out. "He's right; it looks like we are in an oversized room. What the hell is going on?"

Miller didn't say anything while he waited for Reiben to reach the ground. They all waited for him to say something but he didn't know what to say. This was crazy; it went against everything they had ever known.

It was Upham who broke the silence. "We're in a box, a large box."

No one shouted at him for speaking the obvious. They were all too shaken to say anything.

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_A/N: And the plot thickens. I hope you've liked this so far. Please tell me what you think. I'll still be updating on my other stories btw. _

_PS: All of you if you get the chance go out and read the book! You will really like it if you loved the move :D_


	3. It Gets Weirder

_A/N: It's been almost a year since I've updated this story last. I'm sorry for not having a chapter up sooner. Writer's block kills. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

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Captain Miller was sitting with his head in his hands. He was trying his best to make some sense of this confusing situation. Needless to say he wasn't getting very far. He couldn't understand how they could be walking in a sunny field one minute and then in a big box the next. It just wasn't making any sense.

Most of his other men weren't doing any better. They were all silent and thinking except for one.

Reiben was not keeping his thoughts to himself. "It just doesn't make any fucking sense!" he was ranting. "How the hell did we get stuck in a big fucking box in a goddamn big fucking room?"

Jackson, who had been praying silently, had enough. "Reiben will you shut it? You're killin' me over here!"

"It's not like you haven't heard it before, Bible boy," Reiben said. "Besides I'm just telling the truth. This whole goddamn thing is FUBAR!"

Miller sighed and looked in Reiben's direction. "He's right Reiben, shut it!" he said. "You are being so loud that I'm sure if there is anything around it's heard you already, and in case you hadn't noticed, that isn't exactly what we want right now!"

That caused Reiben to go quiet. Miller was right, and he knew it. Reiben felt slightly foolish for being so vocal, but in a way he couldn't help it. Running his mouth was the only way he knew how to deal with things.

Now that Reiben was not speaking anymore it was very quiet in the box. The only thing that interrupted the silence was the occasional sound of Jackson praying, which sounded more like soft mumbling. Time slowly passed, which was shown by the light from the key hole becoming dimmer. Eventually no light shown through it and the men were getting anxious. No one had been able to find an explanation to their situation, and what was worse was that they were unable to figure out how to get out of this box.

All the men were on edge, especially Miller, so when they heard voices they were quickly on guard.

"Did you hear that?" Upham said nervously.

No one chose to answer his question. Even Reiben kept quiet as he silently rolled his eyes at Upham's rhetorical question.

They listened as the voices got closer. While they still could not tell what they were saying it was obvious that there were two voices, both were female. It only took a few moments to hear a bit of what they were saying.

"Did you have fun?" the older sounding female said.

The voice that answered was much younger. "Yes I did. I don't think I've had this much fun in a long time. Thanks for everything."

"You don't need to thank me," the older woman said. "I just wanted you to be happy."

"Well this made me very happy."

"I'm glad it did."

"Well I've got to get to bed, I'm leaving tomorrow remember?" the younger voice said.

"I wish you didn't have to."

"It's only for a month," said the second voice. "Then I'm back for the summer."

"Guess you're right, well good night."

"Good night."

After this the voices went quiet. They could hear someone walking closer to them. Then all the sudden light started to shine through the key hole. The men blinked as they adjusted to being able to see again.

"Captain they are American," Rieben whispered. It was obvious that he was a little surprised by this. But there was something even more shocking, "and they're women."

None of the men, except Upham, had heard the voice of an American woman in a while. This was a shock to all of them, and added more confusion to their already confusing situation. However, it also brought them hope. If these women were American that meant that they were safe.

Miller shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he said quietly. "We still have to be cautious. We don't know who these people are. We don't know what their intentions are."

With these words that hope was dashed. They weren't out of danger yet.

They listened quietly and waited to see what happened. They could hear movement in the room. However, waiting wasn't getting them very far.

Miller sighed; he knew they had to figure out what was going on if they were going to get out of this situation alive. He looked at Jackson and said, "Jackson. I need you to do something."

"Yes sir?"

"Do you think you could get back up there and see what's going on?"

Jackson nodded and said, "Yes sir, I can."

"Sir you can't do that," Riben said. "You said it yourself; we don't know what's out there."

"Which is precisely why I have to," Miller said annoyed.

"FUBAR," Riben said and walked away from the group a little.

Miller looked around at the other men. None of them would look him in the eye. All of them were concerned for the life of their friend. However, all of them knew it had to be done.

"Jackson, go and be quick," Miller told him.

Jackson nodded again, and then he and Caparzo walked back over to the wall. Jackson was quicker getting up there this time. About the same time he started to stand on Caparzo's shoulders, a noise that sounded like wood rubbing together came from outside the box. This startled Jackson and his foot slipped off Caparzo's shoulder. He grabbed at the closest thing he could, the key hole.

Miller and the other men ran over to where Jackson was trying to get his feet back on Caparzo's shoulders.

"You alright Jackson?" Miller said when he was finally stable.

I'm alright, Captain," Jackson said nodding. Then they heard him whisper. "Thank you God."

"What was that?" Miller asked.

This time Jackson shook his head. "Not sure."

Finally Jackson slung his rifle down from his shoulder and looked into the room.

"Captain I'm not seeing any…" Jackson started to say and then froze. "That can't be…oh God!"

The next moment Jackson lost balance again. However, this time he was unable to grab a hold of the key hole. He came crashing down and would have met the floor. However, luckily the other men were ready this time to catch him.

All of the other men were asking him if he was okay. Finally Miller shoved through and looked at him. Something had obviously disturbed him, his face was bright red.

"Jackson, are you okay?" Miller asked him.

Jackson nodded to answer him.

"What's wrong Jackson?" Miller asked him. "What did you see?"

After a moment Jackson spoke. "It…it doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?" Miller said warily. It was very unusual to see his normally calm sharpshooter so unnerved.

Jackson shook his head. "There's a really big girl," he said and then stuttered. "An…and she's naked!"

All of the men looked shocked for a moment. "What do you mea…" Miller started to ask, then quickly stopped when the box went black because something had covered the key hole. All the men looked towards the key hole, and soon they heard a loud click. The next second light filled the box. It took them a moment to get adjusted to the light. When they did the men saw a young woman that was many times larger than them, looking back at them. And she was very naked.

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_A/N: And now they finally meet. I hope this chapter was well worth the wait. Please tell me what you think. I'm always worried about making the characters too OOC so if I'm not staying true let me know. Thanks!_


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